The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Foundation has announced a new expansion to its High School Aviation STEM Curriculum, adding a pathway for maintenance and manufacturing to the program.

Topics covered in the new curriculum are designed to complement current courses in the program, including:

• Pilot
• Drone
• Career prep

Additionally, an advisory board of educators and aviation leaders is being formed by the AOPA Foundation to ensure that the program readies students for real-world aviation manufacturing and maintenance careers while still completing high school.  

The AOPA Foundation anticipates needing two-to-three years to develop the curriculum, planning field testing for 2028. Before the curriculum launches, the AOPA Foundation plans to:

• Identify key skills and credentials for aviation maintenance and manufacturing jobs
• Develop hands-on learning opportunities
• Train and educate teachers on how to effectively deliver the curriculum

The AOPA Foundation’s High School Aviation STEM Curriculum is available for free nationwide, having supported more than 130,000 students since starting in 2016—including 32,000 in the 2025-2026 school year.

This school year was also the first time the curriculum was taught in every state in the US as well as two US territories. The program has also helped encourage diversity in aviation, with almost 25% of the class being women and around 50% being students of color.

This curriculum is reviewed by STEM.org and is offered at no charge to organizations like:

• Schools
• Districts
• Nonprofits
• Homeschool co-ops

AOPA Acting Co-President Katie Pribyl said, “Like a lot of AOPA members, I’ve experienced the mechanic shortage firsthand.”

Pribyl continued, “Between long waits at shops that are booked out for months and annual inspections that stretch on for weeks—not to mention the void that’s left when a trusted A&P retires—the mechanic shortage has a real impact on our members every day.”

“Every student in this course represents dozens of aircraft that can keep flying,” added Pribyl, “That's why the addition of this maintenance and manufacturing curriculum isn’t just good for students—it’s good for our members who depend on a healthy maintenance workforce to keep flying.”

AOPA Foundation Programs Vice President Dan Justman said, “We’re proud of the success the AOPA high school program has had.”

Justman continued, “We continue to see strong year-over-year growth, and we hear from graduates every day about how this program changed their lives and set them on the path toward successful careers in the aviation industry.”

“With this new pathway, we can open that same door for students who want to build and maintain aircraft, and the industry is waiting for every one of them,” noted Justman.

AOPA Foundation Senior Vice President Elizabeth Tennyson said, “This curriculum is one more way that the AOPA Foundation is supporting and growing the entire aviation ecosystem.”

Tennyson added, “From supporting future aviators—and soon, mechanics—before graduation, to providing scholarships for them to become a pilot or mechanic, to helping them fly at lower cost through flying clubs, and easing pilots back into flying if they ever step away for a bit, we have programs serving aviators at every stage.”

The new curriculum has been made possible by a donation from Gregory and Cindy Kozmetsky through their donor-advised GCK Legacy Fund.